14
$\begingroup$

Given a line bundle $L$ on an abelian variety $A/k$, there is an associated Weil pairing $e_L\colon\bigwedge^2V_pA\to\mathbb Q_p(1)$, where $p$ is a prime different from the residue characteristic of the base field $k$ and $V_pA$ is the $\mathbb Q_p$-linear Tate module of $A$. This is usually constructed by explicitly constructing a pairing between $A[p^n]$ and $A^\vee[p^n]$ using the interpretation of the latter as classes of divisors, and then pulling back along the polarisation induced by $L$.

There is, however, another way to construct such a pairing, using the fact that $V_pA$ is dual to the etale cohomology $\mathrm H^1_{et}(A_{\bar k},\mathbb Q_p)$. Namely, the first etale Chern class $c^{et}_1(L)$ is an element of $\mathrm H^2_{et}(A_{\bar k},\mathbb Q_p)(1)=\mathrm{Hom}(\bigwedge^2V_pA,\mathbb Q(1))$, and we can just take the pairing corresponding to this element.

What I want to know (and ideally would like a reference for) is whether these two pairings are the same. In other words, is the element of $\mathrm H^2_{et}(A_{\bar k},\mathbb Q_p)(1)$ corresponding to the Weil pairing equal to the first etale Chern class of $L$?

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

8
$\begingroup$

It seems that one of the pairings is the negative of the other (in char 0 this assertion is actually Lemma 2.6 of https://arxiv.org/pdf/1809.01440.pdf ).

$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Great! The minus sign that intervenes here is a good cautionary tale: not all naturally-defined pairings are the same as one another. In any case, the instance I care about is in characteristic zero, so I will accept this answer. $\endgroup$ Commented May 15, 2021 at 15:34
  • $\begingroup$ This is the same minus sign as that in Section 24, Theorem 1, of Mumford's book on Abelian Varieties (over the complex numbers). $\endgroup$ Commented May 16, 2021 at 12:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.